The Nicomachean Ethics — trans. F. H. Peters (1881)

But from right sources he will take {e.g. from his 17 own property), not as if there were anything noble in taking, but simply as a necessary condition of giving. And so he will not neglect his property, since he wishes by means of it to help others. But he will refuse to give to any casual person, in order that he may have wherewithal to give to the right persons, at the right times, and where it is noble to give.

It is very characteristic of the liberal man * to 18 go even to excess in giving, so as to leave too little for himself ; for disregard of self is part of his character.

In applying the term liberality we must take 19 account of a man's fortune ; for it is not the amount of what is given that makes a gift liberal, but the liberal habit or character of the doer; and this character proportions the gift to the fortune of the giver. And so it is quite possible that the giver of the smaller sum may be the more liberal man, if his means be smaller.

Those who have inherited a fortune seem to be 20 more liberal than those who have made one ; for they have never known want ; and all men are particularly fond of what themselves have made, as we see in parents and poets.

It is not easy for a liberal man to be rich, as he is not apt to take or to keep, but is apt to spend, and cares for money not on its own account, but only for the sake of giving it away.

* A defect in his character, according to the definition ; but Aristotle is here describing not an abstract ideal of virtue, but types of character such as he saw in real life.

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21 Hence the charge often brought against fortune, that those who most deserve wealth are least blessed with it But this is natural enough ; for it is just as impossible to have wealth without taking trouble about it, as it is to have anything else.

Nevertheless the liberal man will not give to the wrong people, nor at the wrong times ; for if he did, he would no longer be displaying true liberality, and, after spending thus, would not have enough to spend on the right occasions. For, as we have already said, he is liberal who spends in proportion to his fortune, on proper objects, while he who exceeds this is prodigal And so princes * are not called prodigal, because it does not seem easy for them to exceed the measure of their possessions in gifts and expenses.

Liberality, then, being moderation in the giving and taking of wealth, the liberal man will give and spend the proper amount on the proper objects, alike in small things and in great, and that with pleasure ; and will also take the proper amount from the proper sources. For since the virtue is moderation in both giving and taking, the man who has the virtue wall do both rightly. Right taking is consistent with right giving, but any other taking is contrary to it. Those givings and takings, then, that are consistent with one another are found in the same person, while those that are contrary to one another manifestly are not.

But if a liberal man happen to spend anything in

* Of course no Bingle English word can convey the associations of the Greek rvpayvos, a monarch who has seized absolute power, not necessarily one who abuses it.

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a manner contrary to what is right and noble, he will be pained, but moderately and in due measure ; for it is a characteristic of virtue to be pleased and pained on the right occasions and in due measure.

The liberal man, again, is easy to deal with in 26 money matters; it is not hard to cheat him, as he does not value wealth, and is more apt to be vexed at having failed to spend where he ought, than to be pained at having spent where he ought not — the sort 27 of man that Simonides would not commend.*